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' L. R. EDWARDS.

' PEANUT CLEANER.

Patented Feb. 24, 1885,

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(No Model.) l I L. R. EDWARDS.

PEANUT CLEANER.

No. 312,617. Patented Eeb. 24,1885.

N, PETERS. Phov-Liltwgnphor. Walinglm D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUTHER R. EDWARDS, OF FRANKLIN, VIRGINIA.

PEANUT-CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 312,617, dated February 24, 1885.

Application filed May 13, 1834.

TQ @ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, LUTHER R. Enwfinns,V

a citizen of the United States, residing at Franklin, Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Peanut-Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in rotary scourers adapted particularly for cleaning peanuts and freeing them from their stems.

The objects ofthe invention are to produce a scourer which willloosen the dirt from the nuts, and by the peculiar construction of which the dust is carried off without the use of a fan-blower or the like, which is usually necessary `in devices of a similar nature, and which will also free the nuts from their stems during the process of cleaning.

With these objects in view, my invention consists of two cleaners arranged one above' the other, the said cleaners being provided with disks having brushes and metal projections, whereby the dust and stems are. removed frorn the nuts as they pass between the disks, and, further, in various details of con struction, whereby the escape of the dust is provided for, the nuts retained the required length of time under the influence of the brushes, and the stems removed and automatic ally conveyed from one cleaner to the other.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may know how to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe the construction and opera tion, referring byletters to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a central vertical section of the device. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan of one of the brush and projection carrying disks, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the tables or platforms upon which the nuts rest while being cleaned.

In these drawings, A represents the framework, which is made of a size and strength to adapt it to receive the cylinder B, which inA closes the working parts of the machine, and is preferably composed of wire net or openwork of wood, so as to admit of the free passage of air to carry off the dust and dirt removed from the nuts.

C represents the main operating-shaft of the (No model.)

cleaner, the Lipper end of which is provided with a drum, c, adapted for the reception of a belt, through which medium it receives motion. The upper end of this shaft is held in position by being secured to the cross-piece d', and it is supported by the cross-piece e, in which it is stepped.

Rigidly secured to the shaft C are two disks, designated, respective] y,in the drawings by the letters D and E. Each of these disks is provided with brushes d, arranged to project a suitable distance from their under faces, and each isV also provided with a series of metal projections, f, which are of about the same length as the brushes. The function of these metal points is to separate the stems from the nutsduring the process of brushing.

As a convenient means of supporting the nuts during the time of their being operated upon by brushes and metal points, Ihave provided the shelves or platforms F and G, which are preferably made of wire-gauze, to permit the passage ofthe dust and dirt. These shelves are secured permanently in position by any suitable mode of connection with the casing A, and they are provided with spiral ribs Q,Which,

acting in conjunction with the revolvingbrushes, keep the nuts in a position to be acted upon by the same a sufficient time to allow of .the complete removal of the dirt and stems,

and also convey the nuts from the point of receipt to a position where they are deposited k upon another table or to a discharge-opening. The ribs on the upper platform are so formed as to convey the nuts from the center, \where they are deposited by the chute .Lto the edge, whence they drop to the lower shelf. The ribs on this lower shelf are so arranged that the nuts are carried from the edge where they are received to the central o penin g, K, through which they are dropped upon a conveyer or sorting-table. The cylinder L is arranged to inclose a space between the two cleaning-disks, and forms in conjunction with the cylinder B a circular passage, through which the nuts pass on their Way from the upper to the lower cleaner. The lower supporting-table, G, is made with a slightly-concave upper face for the purpose of counteracting the centrifugal force exerted upon the nuts during their stay upon the same, the effect of which would be gov IOO

to throw them out of the course prescribed by the spiral rib. I

Although I have particularly 'described the use of two brushes and tables, I consider the use 0f any number which may be required to accomplish the thorough removal of t-he dirtandstems within the scopeofmyinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patv ent, is-

l. The combination, in a machine for cleaning nuts and freeing them from their stems, of a rotary disk or disks provided with brushes and projections, a platform or platforms for holding the nuts during the time oft-heir being operated upon by the cleaners, and means, substantially as described, for conveying the nuts from a point of receipt to a point of deposit.

2. 'Ihe combination, in a machine for cleaning nuts and separating them from their stems, of rotating disks provided with brushes and projections, and platforms for supporting the nuts while being scrubbed,and the cylinder B, substantially as described.

3. The combination, in a machine for cleaning nuts and freeing them from their stems, of the disk D, provided with brushes and stantially as described.

5. The combination, in a machine for cleaning nuts, of the rotating disks provided with brushes and metal points," and the platforms for supporting the nuts, the latter being pro- 43 vided with the spiral ribs and having their upper surfaces inclined in the direction in which the nuts are to bc conveyed, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto Set 5o my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. v

LUTHER R. EDVARDS.

Vitncsses:

DAVID H. MEAD, N. CURTIS LAMMOND. 

